What does industrialization mean?
Through industrialization, the economy of a country or area changes from relying on farming to relying on manufacturing. Mass-production methods that use machines are an essential part of this change.
The good things about industrialization are that it leads to economic growth, a better division of work, and a rush of new technologies.
How to Understand Industrialization
Many things can lead to industrialization, such as government policies, inventions that make work easier, business goals, and a need for goods and services. People move from small farms to cities and towns where they can find work because of its enormous effects on them.
China is the most recent and dramatic example of this. In the late 20th century, changes in government policy helped the country go from relying on subsistence farming for its economy to becoming a world leader in industry.
It was the Industrial Revolution.
Most people in the West think of the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the late 18th century and the following rush of industrialization in the U.S. through the 19th century when they hear the word “industrialization.”
Because more people wanted to buy things at the time, there was a lot of local production of goods in Europe. With its new technologies, like steam-powered machines, Great Britain played a massive part in the process.
The United States, which is the heart of laissez-faire capitalism, became an industrialized country very quickly. The cotton mill and steam power were two inventions that allowed mill towns like Pawtucket, RI, and Lowell, MA, to grow.
The later stages of Industrialization
During WWII, there was a massive desire for manufactured goods that had never been seen before. This caused factories to make more of those goods. Prosperity after the war created more factors that kept capacity usage high and sped up growth even more.
New ideas, specialization, and a desire to increase income were the driving forces behind the industry at this time.
The Tigers of Asia
Asia, among others, was quickly industrialized in the late 20th century. Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, also known as the “Asian Tigers,” grew economies thanks to making goods for customers worldwide.
After China moved away from a strict communist model, it had its economic revolution.
What Industrialization Did to People
The inventions of the 1800s made it possible to make many commercial things. As manufacturing increased, the finance, transportation, and information industries grew to keep up with the demand.
It also made jobs more specialized and enabled towns to support more people, which caused a rapid change in the population. Large groups left rural places, searching for work in new industries.
Some people became rich and financially well off in ways never seen before during the Industrial Revolution. The middle class grew as people wanted more things and services, and more businesses opened to meet those needs.
Different ways of Industrialization
Over time, different plans and tactics for industrialization have been tried, with varying levels of success.
Mercantilist and conservative government policies helped the industry’s early growth in Europe and the United States during the Industrial Revolution. Later, these countries switched to a “laissez-faire” or “free market” system that boosted trade with other countries and gave factories new places to sell their goods.
In the years after World War II, developing countries in Africa and Latin America had an” import-substituting industrialization strategy.” This strategy included trade barriers and directly funding or taking over domestic businesses.
At the same time, some economies in Europe and East Asia chose a different growth path based on exports. This plan focused on trade with other countries to develop businesses that could export. It did this by keeping the currency weak so that exports would appeal more to buyers in other countries.
In general, manufacturing that replaces imports has not performed as well as growth driven by exports.
Industrialization under socialism
During the 20th century, socialist countries often started development plans that were planned from the top down. These are things like the Great Leap Forward in China and the first and second five-year plans in the Soviet Union.
While these efforts did shift the economies toward a more industrial base and boost the production of industrial goods, they were also followed by harsh government repression, worsening living and working conditions for workers, and even widespread hunger.
What Industrialization Looks Like
At least four businesses must grow and come up with new ideas for industrialization to happen.
Making things
The start of industrialization came with the creation of tools that made it much easier to make things.
Eli Whitney got a patent for the cotton gin in 1794, which was one of these ideas. When the machine was either hand-cranked or driven by steam, separating the cotton fluff from the seeds was much faster before it was woven into cloth.
The spinning Jenny was another tool. It increased the number of spindles a single spinner could use simultaneously to make wool or cotton.
The steam engine, which Scottish engineer James Watt improved in 1763, might have been the most significant invention of all time. Steam engines that burned coal were what propelled the Industrial Revolution.
Getting Mining
Many of the great inventions of the 1800s were made to help the mining business.
Floods in coal and tin mines often stopped work, so the first steam engine was built to help eliminate the water.
Ore from mines was the first thing that the steam-powered train was used for.
Dynamite was first used to blow up rocks in mining work. It was invented in 1867.
Moving Things
In the 19th century, there were more new and better ways to get things to and from markets than at any other time in history. Among them are:
The train is steaming. The first version, Stephenson’s Rocket, came out in 1829 and was used as a model for 150 years to make cars that could carry raw materials and finished goods.
The boat with steam. When steamboats came along, they used steam technology to make riverboats faster and more prominent, making moving things and people easier.
Stocking up
Before contactless payments and self-service checkouts, stores developed new ideas to appeal to buyers in the 1800s.
The place for clothes. The first “store for everything” was John Wanamaker’s, a six-story shopping paradise that opened in 1887 in the middle of Philadelphia.
The brochure is from Sears. While it wasn’t the first catalog, it was the first to offer a wide range of products, from clothes for kids to premade homes, for almost every American.
What effects does industrialization have on industrialization?
It makes jobs possible, bringing people from farms and towns to cities where things are made. Even though those jobs were complex, they were often better than the unstable life of a small farming family.
This has led to a new breed of shoppers in cities. Many businesses start up to serve and sell to these customers. Over time, more artisans and shop owners joined the middle class.
There was also a significant working class, and things were often much worse for them. The fact that workers in the Industrial Revolution didn’t have much power led directly to the rise of labor groups.
What does industrial activity mean?
An industrial job is a business process needed to make a manufactured good. The task could involve getting a product, processing it, putting it together, fixing it, or taking it apart.
What Does Not Industrial Mean?
Most of the time, non-industrial may be seen in zoning laws or conversations about zoning laws.
This broad group can include everything except activities that make things and activities that get materials for making things, like mining.
Retail and service companies, parks, entertainment and recreation areas, and residential neighborhoods are all examples of non-industrial land use.
Conclusion
- When an economy moves from being based on farming or natural resources to one based on machines, this is called industrialization.
- Most of the time, industrialization leads to higher average incomes and better living conditions.
- In the 18th and 19th centuries, Europe and North America were the first places in the world to become industrialized. Other parts of the world followed suit later.
- Over time, many different plans for development have been tried, with varying degrees of success.
